Alexander Meston Reid began his musical career as a boy soprano. At the age of eighteen he joined the Lyric
Musical Society of Aberbeen, and at the same age sang with the Inverness Opera
Company. He made his professional debut
at the Tivoli Theatre, Aberdeen, in a Scottish variety show, then sang with
Sadler's Wells Opera for four years, first in the chorus before graduating to
small parts. His first solo role was
Luntha in The King and I at Eastbourne, Sussex, in 1972. In 1973 he appeared in The Leslie
Crowther Show, and later that year was Sid-el-Karr in The Desert Song.

He joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in August 1974,
filling in that month for Malcolm Williams as Earl Tolloller in Iolanthe. In September, after Williams left, Reid
assumed principal tenor roles of Mr. Box in Cox and Box, Alexis in The
Sorcerer, Ralph Rackstraw in H.M.S. Pinafore, the Duke of Dunstable
in Patience, Tolloller in Iolanthe, Richard Dauntless in Ruddigore,
and Marco in The Gondoliers. When Utopia Limited was revived for the 1975 Centenary season,
Reid took the part of Captain Fitzbattleaxe.

In September 1975 (with the departure of Colin Wright and
the addition of Geoffrey Shovelton) tenor roles were shuffled. Reid now played Ralph, Frederic in The
Pirates of Penzance, Richard Dauntless, Leonard Meryll in The Yeomen of
the Guard, and Marco. He added
Prince Hilarion in Princess Ida when that opera was revived in February
1977, and Alexis Pointdextre when The Sorcerer was restored in October
1979.

Reid remained with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company through
its final days in February 1982. During
his years with the Company he recorded Fitzbattleaxe (Utopia, 1976),
Ernest Dummkopf (The Grand Duke, 1976), Marco (Gondoliers, 1977),
Aesculapius Carboy (The Zoo, 1978), and Leonard Meryll (Yeomen,
1979).

After leaving the D'Oyly Carte he appeared in the chorus of The
Metropolitan Mikado (GLC Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, 1985). He also sang with the Scottish Chamber
Orchestra, as well as in the show Grand Tour of Melody with Richard
Baker. In August 1989 he made a
recording of traditional Scottish songs, followed by two tours of Scotland, and
in 1993 was appearing in concerts with "The Stars of Operetta."

From 1987 to 1993 Meston Reid also worked as director of the
Godalming Operatic Society, an amateur society with a long history of ex-D'Oyly
Carte directors and producers. He died
suddenly in October 1993 at the age of 48.